Monk Parakeet Gallery

Myiopsitta monachus

The Birds of the World website introduces the Monk Parakeet with this descriptive information:  Native to South America from Argentina to southern Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia, the Monk Parakeet now occurs in North America, Europe, Israel, and elsewhere due to its popularity as a pet (Russello et al. 2008). In North America, free-flying Monk Parakeets were first noted in the late 1960s. Early on, it was feared that this parakeet would thrive in its new home, ravaging crops as its range expanded. Over the years, however, the threat of crop damage has not materialized. Despite their capacity to naturalize in a variety of places, the Monk Parakeet remains a popular species in the pet trade, accounting for 97% of all reported trade in parrots exported from South America between 2006–2012 (Bush et al. 2014).

The Monk Parakeet is the only species in the parrot family that does not nest in a cavity. Instead, it constructs a bulky structure of sticks that can house a single nest or a complex with a dozen or more separate nest chambers. This behavior allows the Monk Parakeet to more readily adapt to landscape change than other parrot species, which often decline in response to logging, habitat loss, and the removal of suitable nest trees. The species uses and maintains its stick compound year-round, a behavior that may help to explain the ability of the Monk Parakeet to colonize areas with colder winters than in its region of origin.

I met my first Monk Parakeet on the morning of Tuesday, August 23, 2023.  Our Jeff Parker Tour group was staying at Southwild’s Santa Tereza Lodge and I watched this bird from a boat on the Rio Sararé which is near the lodge.  In fact, I watched a small flock of 10 to 15 birds perched and flying to and from some small bushes on the river’s edge.   For details of my Brazilian trip that include the sighting of this bird, look here.  Below are a few of my photos of these cute little Parakeets.